When It Comes to Women in Management, U.S. Doesn't Lead

U.S. businesses aren't doing very well at putting women in leadership roles, new research shows.

Out of the 45 countries examined, the United States ranks in the bottom 10 for the percentage of women in senior management positions, with women occupying just 22 percent of senior roles, a study from the Grant Thornton International Business Report found. Although that represents a slight increase from last year's 20 percent, it's well behind countries such as Russia, Indonesia, Latvia and the Philippines, all of which have more than 40 percent of women in such positions.

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"It's no longer feasible for U.S. businesses to adopt a sit-and-wait policy when it comes to promoting women to senior management roles, particularly when so many other nations — developed and emerging — are more rapidly realizing the benefits of diverse senior leadership," said Erica O'Malley, Grant Thornton's national managing partner of diversity and inclusion. [14 Leaders Share Best Leadership Advice]

Here are this year's complete rankings:

Russia – 43 percent

Indonesia – 41 percent (tie)

Latvia – 41 percent (tie)

Philippines – 40 percent

Lithuania – 39 percent

China (mainland) – 38 percent

Thailand – 38 percent

Estonia – 37 percent

Armenia – 35 percent

Georgia – 35 percent

Peru – 35 percent

Poland – 34 percent

Hong Kong – 33 percent

Botswana – 32 percent

New Zealand – 31 percent

Belgium – 30 percent

Chile – 30 percent

Italy – 30 percent

Finland – 29 percent

Greece – 29 percent

Mexico – 28 percent

South Africa – 26 percent

Sweden – 26 percent

Taiwan – 26 percent

Vietnam – 26 percent

Argentina – 25 percent

Malaysia – 25 percent

Turkey – 25 percent

France – 24 percent

Norway – 24 percent

Canada – 23 percent

Ireland – 23 percent

Singapore – 23 percent

Australia – 22 percent

Brazil – 22 percent

Spain – 22 percent

United States – 22 percent

United Kingdom – 20 percent

Denmark – 14 percent

Germany – 14 percent

India – 14 percent

United Aram Emirates – 14 percent

Switzerland – 13 percent

Netherlands – 10 percent

Japan – 9 percent

Part of the reason for the U.S.' low ranking is that many companies aren't hiring nearly as many women recent college graduates: 20 percent of U.S. businesses said less than 10 percent of their new graduate hires are women, the study found.

Moreover, the vast majority of organizations worldwide aren't taking the time to train women for leadership roles. Only 11 percent of businesses globally have a program to support and mentor women, with 70 percent of companies not even considering starting such programs.

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The study was based on surveys of 6,700 business leaders in 45 countries.